The Associated Press, 2010A man looks out over the Chesapeake Bay, with the Bay Bridge in the background, at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, Md., on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. The Environmental Protection Agency announced its strategy Wednesday to restore the Chesapeake Bay, a year after President Obama issued an executive order to do so. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The authority approved a preliminary design for the upgrade of the plant during its Jan. 25 meeting.

The $33.7 million construction cost is half the price of the conventional facility the authority proposed four years ago.

The authority hopes to start construction on the upgrades by the third quarter of 2012 and have the plant operational during the second quarter of 2014.

The improvements will reduce the amount of nitrogen discharged into the Chesapeake Bay by 800,000 pounds, annually, according to the authority.

That would represent more than 15 percent of the total reduction goal outlined in DEP's Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy, the authority said.

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